Welcome to episode zero of the Hot Nuance Book Club! Today we’re just letting you know that we’re here. (We’re also queer! Happy pride month!) And we’re inviting you to join our book club!
Each week, we’ll be reading ~50-100 pages of Exiles: The Ruins of Ambrai by Melanie Rawn, and breaking down what we read and what we think about it. Bree read the book in her teens in the 1990s when it released, but Ali and Aradia are reading it for the very first time. How does it hold up? How does it compare to the fantasy men were writing at the time?
Grab your copy and read along to find out! While the book is out of print, you can find used copies all over the internet. Or you can grab the ebook from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, or your favorite retailer!
For Episode One, we’re reading Collan (pages 3-48) in the ebook! Once you’re caught up, come hang with us on discord and tell us all of your thoughts!
Ali: Hello, and welcome to the Hot Nuance Book Club, a podcast, in which a novelist, a screenwriter, and a podcaster walk into a book, diving into its craft and impact, in their mission to bring nuance back. I’m Ali and I’m a screenwriter
Aradia I’m Aradia, I’m a podcaster
Bree: I’m Bree, also known as one half of Kit Rocha
Ali: Currently we are reading Exiles: The Ruins of Ambree. Embrai?
Bree: Ambrai. I had to look it up. Been reading this book for thirty years. I realized I have never said this out loud. (laughs) We were having a discussion about some of the themes, gender themes, that perhaps feel a little regressive in the Wheel of Time. I sometimes feel like I, in the Wheel of Time fandom, I’m like the KoolAid man, who, anytime, someone says that Robert Jordan was really ahead of his time, I burst through the wall and say, “Actually, there were lots of women, writing amazing fantasy in the Nineties!”
Aradia All those discussions in the server. And then Bree was like: “I really wish that I had the brain to do a podcast about this, because I have so many thoughts!”. And I was like: “Soooo, you’re saying, If I produce it, you have things to say?”
Ali: You know, everything is a spectrum, right? And it’s like, there’s hot nuance in the world, or whatever.
Bree: Do you want to come on this adventure with us? Everyone is invited to join the Hot Nuance Book Club. All you need is a copy of The Ruins of Ambrai. Well, it’s currently out of print in paperback, used copies are available across the internet, at extremely modest prices. And those of you who read digitally can find the ebook at your favorite retailer. For next week, we’re reading the section named Collan, which is pages 3 to 48 in ebook. So grab your copy and join us on our discord, the link is in the description. And dig in to what we just read, what it all means, and just how hot the nuance can get.
Bree: And do you want a taste of what’s to come? Please enjoy these snippets from the future, courtesy of Bree’s time travel adventures. (swooshing noise)
Ali: I also feel, like, immediate hatred vibes; gives me, like, enemies to lovers.
Aradia No, it’s science. Men are from Mars, women are from Venus, and non binary people are from the oort cloud.
Bree: I feel like, it’s like high heels for your head.
Ali: Thank you so much for listening. If you want to keep gabbing with us, our social media and contact details are in the episode description. Until next time, have a very nuanced day!